Effective April 1, the board of directors has approved titles and areas of responsibility for the representative executive officer and executive officers. Ivan Espinosa, currently the chief planning officer, has been appointed as the representative executive officer, president, and CEO, succeeding Makoto Uchida.
Under Espinosa’s leadership, the newly structured Executive Committee will play a key role in delivering Nissan’s short- and mid-term strategic objectives, the company announced.
Guillaume Cartier, currently Chief Performance Officer and Chairperson of the Management Committee for the AMIEO region, will now take on expanded responsibilities, including global marketing and customer experience.
Eiichi Akashi, who previously served as Corporate Vice President of Vehicle Planning and Vehicle Component Engineering, has been appointed Chief Technology Officer, succeeding Kunio Nakaguro. Meanwhile, Teiji Hirata transitions from the CVP of the Vehicle Production Engineering and Development Division to the Chief Monozukuri Officer, heading Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management and replacing Hideyuki Sakamoto.
Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Papin joins the executive committee as Executive Officer, while Stephen Ma (China Management Committee Chair), Mitsuro Antoku (Chief Quality Officer), and Toru Ihara (Chief HR Officer) will remain in their current positions.
Additionally, Shohei Yamazaki, Chairperson for Japan-ASEAN, assumes expanded duties overseeing affiliate companies. Christian Meunier continues as Chairperson for the Americas region.
Tatsuzo Tomita, currently CVP of Product Development No. 2, succeeds Akashi’s previous R&D role and adds responsibility as Chief of Total Delivered Cost Transformation, reporting directly to Espinosa. Manabu Sakane moved from CVP of Purchasing to Chief of Strategy Acceleration, reporting to the new CEO.
The leadership shake-up will see several prominent figures stepping down effective March 31, including outgoing CEO Makoto Uchida, Kunio Nakaguro (CTO), Hideyuki Sakamoto (Chief Monozukuri Officer), Asako Hoshino (Chief Brand & Customer Officer), and Hideaki Watanabe (Chief Strategy & Corporate Affairs Officer). Uchida and Sakamoto, however, will retain directorships until the company’s Annual General Meeting in June.
